YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: An early bid gave the major equity averages a solid start, but the tone of trade soon turned negative as the dollar rallied against the euro. Stocks settled with sharp losses near session lows.

News that the European Union handed Greece some 14.5 billion euros to keep the country out of default helped usher in buying among overseas markets. The accompanying gains helped provide support for domestic stocks to extend their rebound from the prior session.

The mood among global participants was further supported by signs of renewed strength in the euro. However, the euro soon resumed its backslide. Its downturn steepened following news that Germany will ban naked short selling of certain financial stocks, credit default swaps, and government bonds. The euro dropped a sharp 1.5% to a fresh four-year low that was just above 1.2200 per dollar, which helped the Dollar Index spike 1.1% to a fractionally improved 52-week high.

The euro's retreat and the dollar's rally put in motion a gradual, broad-based selling effort, which lasted for most of the session. Stocks attempted to steady their descent in the final hour, but still chopped into the close to settle near their worst levels of the day.

Banking issues were among the most out of favor. In turn, the KBW Bank Index dropped 3.7% to log its lowest closing level in about two months. Weakness among bank stocks dragged down the financial sector to a 2.8% loss, which was the worst of any major sector.

Materials stocks saw one of the most dramatic turnarounds. The sector had been up more than 2% at its session high, but closed with a 1.5% loss.

With a 0.7% loss, energy stocks limited their decline to half of what the broader market incurred. The sector had been up some 2% at its session high, but broader market weakness coupled with a retreat in oil prices undermined its strength -- oil prices closed pit trade with a 1.0% loss at $69.41 per barrel after they had been up as high as $72.52 per barrel.

A batch of better-than-expected earnings reports from a raft of retailers couldn't keep the group from a collective loss of 2.5%. Shares of Dow components Home Depot (HD 34.73, -0.86) and Wal-Mart (WMT 53.71, +0.98) diverged -- HD was weak despite upside guidance; both posted an upside earnings surprise.

Weakness among stocks helped win support for Treasuries. As such, the benchmark 10-year Note climbed more than one point so that its yield fell near 3.35%.

In the latest dose of data, the April Producer Price Index decreased 0.1%, which contrasts with the 0.1% decline that many had come to expect. Excluding food and energy, producer prices increased 0.2% month-over-month, but a softer increase of 0.1% had been expected.

Soft commodities, led by sugar futures (which rallied for 6.6%), rose 2.6% on the session.

Energy futures, on the other hand, finished the session lower by 1%. This move was led by the 1.3% decline in natural gas futures, which closed at $4.34 per MMBtu. June crude oil futures, which lost 1% on the session to close at $69.41 per barrel, were hampered by further concerns coming from the eurozone. Notably, crude oil futures hit a fresh 5-month low this session.

June gold futures ended lower by 1% to $1214.60 per ounce, but rallied back towards the flat line in electronic trade on a flight to safety. July silver closed higher by 0.6% to $19.03 per ounce.

Housing starts for April climbed 5.8% to an annualized rate of 672,000, which is stronger than the expected rate of 650,000. However, building permits for April dropped 11.5% month-over-month to an annualized rate of 606,000, which is lower than the expected rate of 680,000.

Advancing Sectors: (None)
Declining Sectors: Financials (-2.8%), Consumer Discretionary (-1.8%), Tech (-1.6%), Materials (-1.5%), Industrials (-1.4%), Utilities (-1.0%), Health Care (-0.8%), Energy (-0.7%), Telecom (-0.5%), Consumer Staples (-0.5%) DJ30 -114.88 NASDAQ -36.97 NQ100 -1.5% R2K -1.9% SP400 -1.5% SP500 -16.14 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 682/2.42 bln/2026 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 703/1.52 bln/2362